Supporting the full range of students with behavioral challenges requires that schools build the capacity to implement evidence-based behavioral interventions. Fortunately, a substantive body of research documents behavioral interventions are available to both decrease problem behavior and enhance prosocial skills. To date, however, this…

Healthy learning environments for young people are underpinned by respectful relationships. Unfortunately, Australian students who do not form reasonable relationships with peers and staff are unlikely to benefit from being at school. These students tend to disengage and are often excluded. However, a growing number of Australian schools have…

Aim: The purpose of this systematic review was to examine the quality of conduct of experimental studies contributing to our empirical understanding of function-based behavioural interventions for stereotypic and repetitive behaviours (SRBs) in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Method: Systematic review methodology was used to…

This case study describes the processes of functional analysis and modality assessment that were utilized to design a communication intervention for an adolescent with autism who engaged in loud and disruptive vocalizations for most of the school day. The functional analysis suggested that the vocalizations served both tangible and escape…

There is no evidence that physically restraining or putting children in unsupervised seclusion in the K-12 school system provides any educational or therapeutic benefit to a child. In fact, use of either seclusion or restraints in non-emergency situations poses significant physical and psychological danger to students. Yet the first round of data…

Traditional methods of diagnosis are of little therapeutic use when diagnostic criteria are based upon topographical rather than functional aspects of behavior. Also, this sentence in the original seemed rather awkward and a bit unclear. In contrast to this, several authors have put forward experience avoidance disorders as an alternative which…

This case study worked with 80 lecturers drawn from Israeli teachers' colleges who reported that they face relatively few discipline problems; most appeared to be related to low motivation and/or dishonest behaviour. They treated each case in an ad hoc way, responded mildly and avoided imposing sanctions. It is argued that the student teachers'…

In individual behavior therapy two clients were evaluated using behavior categories created by the therapist. Both clients were observed to improve in terms of social competence. One demonstrated a significant inverse correlation between improvement of social competence and weight loss during treatment (16 sessions) and lost weight. The other…

In the United States, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2004) mandates functional assessment based behavioral support plans for all students with disabilities who display challenging behavior. However, very few studies have been undertaken to examine the effectiveness of the functional assessment-based behavioral plans with high…

This article examines the case of Laura, a 9-year-old Mexican immigrant who officially "failed to learn English" in an American school. It may be more accurate to say that schooling failed Laura, and in ways that went beyond language learning. This diagnosis of failure is criticized, along with the individualistic and essentialist assumptions…

First Step to Success is a manualized early intervention program with documented success in reducing the problem behavior of young children. Walker and colleagues (2005) are now engaged in analyses of variables that will increase the proportion of children for whom First Step is effective. A possible enhancement to the First Step to Success…

Functional analysis methodology has become the hallmark of behavioral assessment, yielding a determination of behavioral function in roughly 96% of the cases published (Hanley, Iwata, & McCord, 2003). Some authors have suggested that incorporating the results of a descriptive assessment into the design of a functional analysis may be useful in…

The Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Office funded the School-Based Partnerships (SBP) grant program for the purpose of partnering law enforcement agencies with schools to address crime and disorder problems in and around middle and high schools. In Fiscal Years 1998 and 1999, the COPS Office awarded 275 law enforcement agencies more…

Although schools generally provide safe environments, teachers, staff, parents, and students are concerned with the rising level of disruptive, antisocial behavior (Horner, Sugai, Lewis-Palmer, & Todd, 2001). Only a relatively small number of students in a school building engage in the most serious and/or chronic problem behaviors. However, these…